Chapter 547 The Final Even
An hour after the third event, the participants were gathered by the instructors, who led them to a spacious area with short grass and a massive fence that surrounded the area.
"This area is exactly 1 mile in diameter, and it is where you will be hunting the bells. There will be a total of 10 rabbits in the field, each scoring you 5 points, granted that you don’t injure the rabbit."
"Moreover, each of you will have 30 minutes inside the field. However, you will only have 11 arrows in your quiver, and you are not allowed to reuse an arrow once it has been shot. Doing so will be an automatic failure."
After giving the instructions, the instructor sent in the first participant, who immediately began running towards the first rabbit she noticed.
Although 30 minutes may seem like a lot for each person, one must consider how many rabbits there were in the field. Since there are 10 rabbits in the field and the participants had 30 minutes, that gave them 3 minutes for each rabbit, not including the time they have to spend running around to find the rabbits.
The first participant noticed the first rabbit relatively easily due to the low grass and open field.
She then readied her bow and aimed it at the rabbit.
However, she didn’t release the arrow and held that position for a good minute before finally releasing the arrow, as she wanted to make sure that the rabbit wouldn’t suddenly move around.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew straight at the bell tied to the rabbit’s tail by a single strand of string.
Ding!
The arrow struck the bell perfectly, sending it straight off the rabbit’s tail.
However, the moment the bell rang, the other rabbits in the vicinity became alert and started jumping around, almost like they were trained to do so.
The participant was immediately overwhelmed by 10 rabbits jumping around, not to mention the obnoxious noises caused by the bells that would ring every time a rabbit moved, and there were 9 of them ringing at once, which easily affected the participants’ focus.
Whoosh!
The participant eventually shot another arrow, but it missed the target by a large margin.
She then took a few moments to calm herself, but it was much more difficult than she’d anticipated.
Hell, even the spectators were getting irritated by the constant ringing sounds, much less the participant that was in the middle of it.
"Heavens... This last event is freaking annoying. I cannot imagine being in the field right now trying to concentrate with all the noises."
"Right? And they also have to deal with the pressure of not trying to injure the rabbit."
A minute later, someone exclaimed in a shocked voice, "Ah! She actually hit the rabbit! How unfortunate!"
Indeed, the participant had accidentally struck the rabbit with her arrow due to losing her concentration from the constant ringing.
The participant could feel her heart getting squeezed in pain when she saw the arrow struck the rabbit.
Fortunately for her, the arrow had only struck the rabbit in the leg, or she would’ve had 20 points deducted instead of 10 points.
Of course, 10 points was still massive, and this participant immediately dropped many ranks due to her fatal mistake.
After losing 10 points, the participant no longer had the courage to shoot her bow anymore and decided to end her session early.
In her mind, she had gained 5 points but lost 10 points, so she only lost 5 points in total. Furthermore, she was no longer in the right state of mind after that one mistake, and if she continued shooting the bow, she would, no doubt, make another mistake, which could be even more fatal than the first.
Thus, the participant decided to leave early.
"Instructor, I am done," she raised her hand and said to the instructor outside the field.
The instructor didn’t say anything and merely nodded her head.
She then blew her whistle, and the rabbits suddenly stopped jumping around.
Once the participant left the field, the instructor went inside to take the injured rabbit and handed it to another disciple, who then took the rabbit to get its injury taken care of.
A few minutes later, another rabbit with a bell tied to its tail was brought into the field, and then another participant.
Meanwhile, outside the Jaded Garden, Lady Chu and her butler had just arrived at the entrance.
When the guards saw Lady Chu, they were immediately stunned by her noble appearance, as she was an immensely beautiful young lady with an unfathomable aura that made it feel like they lived in two different worlds despite being only a few feet away from her.
"H-H-H-How may we help you?" The guard stuttered like no tomorrow when he snapped out of his daze to speak with them.
"I am here for my friend. Can you take me to him?" Lady Chu asked them with a beautiful smile on her face that immediately made them all blush even harder.
"F-Friend? Who may this friend be?"
"Well, he arrived around a week ago. I believe they came in a pair— a man and a woman." Lady Chu responded, purposefully not revealing their identity, as she wasn’t sure which identity Yuan came to this place as, and saying their name could potentially ruin his secret.
"A week ago?"
"A man and woman?"
The guards began pondering, as there have been many visitors to the Jaded Garden ever since they opened up to the public.
Despite that, a couple wearing masks appeared in their minds. They figured that only ’that’ person could possibly have a relationship with such an esteemed young lady.
"Are you talking about Player Yuan and his caretaker, Feng?" The guard asked just in case.
Lady Chu’s expression immediately brightened after hearing Yuan’s name, and she quickly nodded, "Yes! I have come here to see my friend, Yuan! Can you please take me to him?"